Ronald Reagan

Bill Clinton

Barack Obama

Other (specify)

Not sure why Obama is up there way too early to be able to judge the historical of what he did. I picked FDR

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I tend to agree, but if you don't have that much frame of historical reference, you can still base picking him off of his short-term feats and the fact that he was pretty objectively the best president since the 1970s.

Contextual
Are talking at the time? How do you argue against Jefferson or Washington

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hi there cincymma79,

contextual.

yes, i think that's a point that some here are missing.

this thread reminds me of different one which discussed the greatest welterweights. when i suggested that Royce Gracie deserves to be considered, i was met mostly by derision; stuff like "Tyrone Woodley would kill Royce".

fair enough.

what, exactly, would Jefferson have done to manage the Great Recession of 2009? how would Washington have dealt with the outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to other nations which had a radically lower standard of living and non-existant environmental protections?

I used to say that, but my history buff brother enlightened me otherwise. Great historical figure? Absolutely. Great military leader? Sure.

But besides setting the stage for peaceful transfer of executive power -- an important thing no doubt -- he didn't really advance much in the way of policy and was instead more of a figurehead. So, as a political leader, he really doesn't have much place alongside FDR, Theodore Roosevelt, or his immediate successors in Madison, Monroe, and Jefferson, all of whom engaged in robust, tireless policy making.